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Panel reviews North Dakota State Fair requests for security upgrades and new restrooms
Summary
A legislative appropriations panel reviewed two capital requests from the North Dakota State Fair: security upgrades, including cameras and license-plate readers, and a restroom replacement project estimated at about $1.2 million. Lawmakers asked about local cost-share, timing and prioritization but made no decision.
The Appropriations - Education and Environment Division on the State Fair reviewed two capital requests: a restroom replacement project and a security upgrade package, including cameras, license-plate readers and barriers.
The restroom project’s cost was clarified during testimony as $1,200,000. Darren Otmar, assistant general manager at the North Dakota State Fair, told the committee, “After we received, the basic architectural, everything they had to do with that, they came back in just under 1200000.0.” Committee members noted the fair previously completed a similar restroom project using fair reserves and local contributions and asked whether the city or county had been asked to cost-share the current request; Otmar said they had not.
Lawmakers pressed for context. The committee chair and attendees reviewed the fair’s recent capital history, noting multiple state appropriations in prior years that largely funded asphalt work. Committee members said most other fair projects previously included some form of local matching. Otmar said the fair’s $664,000 West Park restroom project had been funded from fair funds and local partners in the past and that the current restroom request was not budgeted in the fair’s reserves.
The security request draws on multiple line items. Committee members examined a spreadsheet Otmar provided and singled out the portion that would purchase physical vehicle barriers: about $60,000 of the roughly $1,000,000 total package. Otmar described the broader security package as focused on cameras and communications hardware — “new security cameras and the hardware and also the the communication capabilities to reach everybody on the fairgrounds at 1 time” — and said the package includes DVR hardware to preserve recorded footage and license-plate–recognition cameras that can alert staff about banned or flagged vehicles.
Committee members asked whether the fair had bids or cost estimates; Otmar said they had documentation and had obtained vendor bids or estimates for the listed items. The fair indicated that if the committee approved only partial funding this year, the restroom project could not be completed before the next state fair and that some work might be pushed to 2026. Otmar said the security enhancements were the fair’s first priority if funds were limited.
No formal motion or vote was taken. Committee members asked fair staff to return with prioritized options, potential local partners for cost-sharing and clarification of which projects could be staged. Senator Thomas and other members indicated they would follow up with fair leadership and local officials to assess ownership of land and opportunities for matching funds.
The committee did not take action on either request during the session and adjourned discussion of the State Fair to seek additional information and recommendations from the fair and from committee staff.
